The European Parliament has broken ranks with the European Commission on a far-reaching clampdown on smoking.
In a vote on November 28, a strict resolution recommending smoke-free environments was defeated by 378 votes, with 152 in favour, and 26 abstentions.
Together, the European People’s Party (EPP), Socialists and Democrats (S&D), Renew Europe, and the Greens/EFA put the EC’s plan to Parliament.
The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) added revisions to the proposal, which found support from most of the EPP, diverging from its initial coalition partners and leading to left-wing political groups pulling their support.
Speaking ahead of the vote in the EP, ECR shadow rapporteur, Pietro Fiocchi, had said: “We see the outdoor smoking ban as a violation of individual freedom.
“In our opinion, the proposal lacks an assessment of the real risk and ignores new scientific evidence.”
The Patriots for Europe group also opposed the proposal, stressing that the European Union did not have competence over the issue, which in its opinion should be handled by member states.
In the resolution, the EC had wanted to treat electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products in the same way as cigarettes, despite those products being used by many as a means to quit smoking.
Tobacco is set to become a hot-button issue in the next legislature after the European Commission signaled it wants to pick up the fight against smoking and everything remotely related to it. https://t.co/iayPf2QXMv
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 12, 2024
A ban on electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco products as proposed by the EC would mean they would be banned everywhere where people cannot smoke. The body also wanted to extend this to outdoor areas, including terraces, public transport stations, balconies and private cars.
The EC’s stated goal was to lower the number of cancer fatalities and safeguard people from passive smoking. It reasoned that certain areas where children spent a lot of time should be smoke-free.
By 2040, the body wants to reduce the proportion of smokers in the population to below 5 per cent.
Currently, only Sweden comes close to that, having the lowest smoking prevalence in Europe at 5.8 per cent. That is thanks in part to the popularity of snus, a local tobacco product of powdered tobacco leaves placed under the lip, a product the EC also wants to ban.
According to Fiocchi, the demonisation of smoking alternatives was irrational, especially by advocates of political parties that supported the liberalisation of recreational cannabis.
MEP Peter Liese of the EPP said e-cigarettes could assist in quitting tobacco use and should not be treated in the same way as traditional cigarettes.
🚬 | Yet another instance of the EU overreaching and over-regulating. Proposing a ban on smoking in open-air public spaces is a prime example of the kind of excessive interference that we, as #patriots, firmly oppose! pic.twitter.com/ako7RColQU
— Patriots for Europe (@PatriotsEP) November 29, 2024
Opponents of a strict ban also invoked negative economic consequences, arguing that bars and restaurants could take a hit.
Reacting after the vote, MEP Alessandra Moretti, of the S&D group, said the amendments by the ECR were an “anti-scientific position of the right-wing groups”. She added that they had “prevented the parliament from approving a resolution that could have safeguarded public health from smoke and aerosols, particularly protecting vulnerable groups like children and pregnant women”.
Supporters of the ban referenced the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ), which estimated smoking-related illnesses and deaths cost Germany alone about €97 billion annually.
The European Council is set to vote on the Commission’s proposal during a health ministers’ meeting in the next few days, with a final decision expected later in December.
While the guidelines aimed to curb tobacco-related cancer by offering a framework for member states, they would not be legally binding, as health policy remains the responsibility of individual countries.
In a joint statement seen by Brussels Signal, Italy and Romania have expressed serious concern about a European Council recommendation advocating smoke-free and e-cigarette aerosol-free environments. https://t.co/3BbLagTgLD
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 21, 2024
